Playing a role in Hugo has paid off in an unexpected way for Sacha Baron Cohen. The actor had a big role in Martin Scorsese‘s most recent film, playing the over-enthusiastic watchman who patrolled the Paris train station in which Hugo was hiding. And now Cohen has his own movie, The Dictator, opening next week. To promote the picture, Cohen enlisted his Hugo director to round out a skit on SNL. The results are… weird. Check out the Weekend Update interview segment below.

I’m sure these two guys are friends, but there’s something about this that bums me out. Cohen seems to be breezing his way through some of his Dictator press appearances; the guy who was once so unbreakable in character is now content to slap on that beard and mug through skits like this. That, combined with what I’ve been told about the film from friends who have seen it so far (“not good”) makes me sad to see Scorsese writhing through this. But your mileage may vary, and it is neat to see the director game for something like this, even if the results aren’t exactly stellar.